This is the second part of a two part post about an old abandoned road here in Keene, New Hampshire. To read part one just scroll down or click here.
As I said in part one, there are many wildflowers that grow along this old road and this one, blue stemmed goldenrod (Solidago caesia), is rare in this area. This road is one of only two places that I know of to find this plant. With its little tufts of flowers spread out along its stem it is one of the easiest goldenrods to identify. The “blue stem” comes from the waxy coating on the stem that protects it from sunlight and helps hold in moisture. It is very similar to the whitish “bloom” seen on blueberries.
A closer look at the flowers of blue stemmed goldenrod.
Wildflowers aren’t the only plants found here. Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) runs rampant on both sides of the road. This isn’t the place to be hiking with shorts on.
On the side of the road opposite Beaver Brook ledges soar quite high in places. These ledges were cut out of the bedrock by hand, long before there were power tools to do the job.They are great places to find mosses and lichens.
I found these common powderhorn lichens growing on one of the ledges. There are very similar to British soldier lichens, but without the red tips.
You can still see evidence of the star drills that were used to drill into the stone, which happens to be feldspar in this example. Star drills were long pieces of steel with a star shaped tip that were held by one man while two others hit the end with sledge hammers. After each hammer blow the drill would be rotated 1/8 turn and eventually a hole would be cut into the stone. A good team could do about 12 holes per day. Once enough holes were drilled small tools called feathers and wedges were tapped into each one to split the stone away from the ledge face. Then all of the fallen stone would have had to have been put into ox carts and hauled away. This was very labor intensive and it took a long time to cut a road through solid rock. This is why old roads were so full of curves-they followed the path of least resistance.
Beaver Brook cascades over ledges into a small, shaded pool that was once a popular swimming hole. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information about how high the falls are. I’ve heard everything from 10 feet to 100 feet, but I’d guess that they are closer to 30 to 40 feet and maybe 50 if you include the part that isn’t visible in this photo. They are certainly high enough to allow me to say with certainty that you wouldn’t catch me jumping off those ledges.
If you’d like to see a very short video from above the falls taken by someone with absolutely no fear of heights, just click here. You’ll also be able to hear the great roar of the falls.
NOTE: What the person who shot this video did was extremely dangerous because of the crumbling cliff faces and I would strongly urge others to not try it. I hope he at least had a rope around his waist!
A lot of people come here to see the falls, but to get a clear view of them like that in the photo you have to climb/ slide / fall down a very steep embankment and then climb over large boulders. I did all of that 6 or 7 times trying to get photos for this post and I’m glad I don’t have to do it again right away. This photo shows a hint of the large stone in the center of the lower part of the falls that splits them in two in dry weather. Beaver Brook’s headwaters are in Gilsum, New Hampshire, north of Keene, and when the falls are split in half, you know that it has been very dry there.
This old hand colored postcard shows the falls split in two due to dry weather. This photo was taken sometime around 1910 and if you look very closely above and to the right of the falls you can see a woman sitting on a ledge with her feet hanging over. There is a bare tree branch hanging down just behind her on her right. (Our left) She is wearing a long, rose colored dress and a big, wide brimmed hat. Most of these old photos and postcards have people in them somewhere, but I’m not sure why. It’s possible that it was done to give an idea of scale, which this lady does very well. Maybe she had been diving into the pool from the ledges and was resting.
I know why the lady in the rose colored dress needed a rest! If you think getting down to the brook to get photos of the falls was difficult, just wait until you have to climb back up carrying cameras and a tripod! It’s close to vertical but with just enough slant to make it possible.
Here is a view of the falls circa 1900 that you can’t see today because trees and brush block the view. It seems amazing to me that this land was once so clear, with hardly a bush or tree on the hillsides. If it wasn’t for their roar you could walk right past the falls today while hardly getting a glimpse of them.
If you’re wondering if there is a person in this postcard the answer is yes. He or she is standing on the road beside the white fence just about even with the falls. It’s either a woman wearing a long black dress with a white collar or a man with a long white beard wearing a long black coat. This postcard was made from a hand colored black and white photograph.
If you were to follow the road in the postcard view today you would run smack into one of the biggest piles of dirt you had ever seen. All of the fill that the “new” Route 9 North sits on had to be trucked in from elsewhere when the highway was built in the late 70s. It’s amazing to think that what was once a footpath beside a brook, used by Native Americans to hunt and fish from, is now a multi-lane highway. This was and is an important route north out of Keene and now leads to Concord, the state capital.
If you stand on the highway and look down you can still see part of the original old road. This view is on the opposite side of the highway from the falls that we were just visiting and the old road isn’t as overgrown. The highway was built directly across the road, cutting it off from motorized travel forever.
The old road was originally built to access a sawmill which was built on Beaver Brook in 1736. In 1735 100 acres of “middling good land” and 25 pounds cash was offered to anyone who could build a sawmill capable of furnishing lumber to the settlement of Upper Ashuelot, which is now called Keene. Without a sawmill you lived in a log cabin, so they were often built before anything else in early New England settlements.
If you follow Beaver Brook upstream from the falls and across the new highway you will eventually come to this dam, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1986. The dam has saved Keene from devastating floods several times, but it does not completely eliminate all flooding in the city. At capacity Beaver Brook Dam can hold back 106 acres of floodwaters.
Beavers are still here doing their part in finding flood control solutions too.
When flooding doesn’t occur the area behind the dam is essentially the same wetland, called “three mile swamp,” that it has always been. This is a great place to spot wildlife. As I was gathering photos for this post I saw ducks, geese, and a great blue heron who sat on a dead tree branch just out of camera range.
Well, now you folks know as much about this old rad and the surrounding area as I do. I hope it was an enjoyable excursion and I thank you for coming along.
We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. ~ Jawaharial Nehru
A fascinating tour and a unique view of this area. I agree with Amelia about what great source material this would make for a book. The combination of natural and man-influenced history is so interesting.
Thanks Sue. I didn’t even include the part about the natives burning every building in Keene to the ground except for the sawmill that was built on Beaver Brook. It could be an interesting tale, I agree.
What a great excursion! Thanks for doing all the hard work.
You’re welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I have quite a bit of Blue Stemmed Goldenrod, and feel a good deal of affection for this plant. Don’t know how rare it is here in the wild, but I can tell you that in the garden it spreads freely by seed. Beautiful waterfalls.
I like that goldenrod too. I didn’t know it was sold commercially.I’ll have to take a look.
What a fascinating place that would be to visit!
It is kind of unique in this area. If you like history, it has plenty.
These were great stories. I think that they would make a great book. I’ve never thought of the story a road could tell and with your photographs…
Thank you. I think it would be a short book, but I agree that the story of this old road is interesting. There’s no telling what a little more digging into history might reveal about it.
Now I feel fully informed. It took me ages to find the lady in the rose coloured dress but you’re right, she was there! The trees with their autumnal colours look so beautiful and I love the beaver dam (the real one that is). It looks like a great,if tough, walk 🙂
I know the lady is a bit hard to see-I actually found her by accident. You’ll see more fall foliage here soon. I’ve got enough photos of it to last until the snow flies.
Well worth the scramble for the pictures of the falls. There should be a worldwide law saying that trees should always be cut down to give photographers at least one clear view of a waterfall.
A law like that would sure make my life a lot less complicated.
Wow, star drills and hand colored postcards, now there’s a couple of old time things that one doesn’t hear about every day! I believe that most of the old postcards were tied to tourism, and therefore, people were included so that the people viewing the cards could envision themselves being there, as well as for scale. As far as the slope to the waterfall and back, believe me, I feel your pain!
Great post, as much as I look forward to your more typical posts, I really love these!
Thanks Jerry! True, you don’t hear much about star drills or hand colored post cards anymore unless you come here. That’s a plausible theory about why there are people in the postcards-good as any other one I’ve heard.
I imagine you did your share of climbing / sliding / falling down a few trails while you were on vacation too.
Loved the tour. Now I wish I could get to the falls easier so I could take a look but.. 🙂
You can get a glimpse from the road now, but the best view is from down below. The view from the road gets much better after the leaves have all fallen, like around Thanksgiving.
Now this is a area I know well and we poke around for treasures of all kinds here. Nicely done post on my state as well 🙂
Thanks! I’ve found a lot of garnets in the feldspar up there, but haven’t found anything else that had any value. I didn’t know there was anything there worth finding, except the views.
I go for the views and he swings a detector and yes we love ROCKS and Gems 🙂
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was beryl and tourmaline there, but I’ve never seen any.
I always search and when we pan out our gold I go through the rest looking for that and when we go to Maine I search out the Watermelon Tourmaline 🙂
Wonderful post! Totally fascinating! Amazing history, and the star drill, that sounds like work. How different life is now. At first I couldn’t find the lady by the waterfall, but finally found her. What a beautiful place. Thanks for all the work on this one, Allen.
🙂
You’re welcome Chris-glad you enjoyed it.
I definitely enjoyed the journey. You helped give us all an idea of a different life in a different time through your use of historical facts, historical artifacts (I loved the hand-colored postcards), and comparisons with the present. Your photos of the fall were fantastic and I was utterly fascinated by your description of the use of star drills.
Thanks Mike. Just imagine being the poor guy who had to hold the drill while your two coworkers flailed at it with sledge hammers all day!
Great history! I didn’t go father than the falls when I was there. I’m surprised you didn’t get a photo of the “Old Man of Keene” http://touringnh.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/keene-6466.jpg
Love the old postcards.
Thanks Laura. I didn’t include the “profile” on purpose because it seems like quite a stretch to see a face in that rock pile. I know where it is and have shown it to others-all of whom didn’t see a profile.